AI Grades Essays in Classrooms
The use of generative AI is being embedded in our classrooms in various ways on a daily basis, leading teachers to grade through an AI essay grader.
Just as in any job embracing AI, teachers are using AI tools for various reasons, such as creating lesson plans, assessments, and grading essays, bestowing them the title ‘AI helpers.’ This is because teachers state that AI tools aid in grading faster and removing bias from grading.
How AI Grading Works
AI startups are focusing heavily on education, specifically grading. Educational bots grade numerically and offer critiques on essays, addressing elements like topic sentences. This is where teachers have the freedom to choose whether to use the generated score and feedback. If a teacher agrees to implement the AI essay grader, parents will have to be informed.
Richard Vanden, a high school history teacher, questioned, “Does this make my life easier? Yes, but that’s not what this is about. It’s about making the students better writers.”
Different teachers have different perspectives. Some state that these tools are unreliable, especially when it comes to grading. They argue that AI grading can affect students’ progress, which is crucial before they graduate and become college students. Alex Kotran, the co-founder of an AI educational bot that teaches literacy, stated, “It should not be used for grading. It’s going to undermine trust in the education system.”
If You Glitch, I Glitch
AI startups are advancing to the extent that we now have an AI essay grader. Yes, these tools save time, aid teachers, and give them extra time, but these tools can glitch. No tool knows the student better than their teacher in a classroom setting. These AI tools disregard whether a student has special needs, learning difficulties, or was simply having a bad day. Human interaction between a student and their teacher should not be disregarded.
Let’s take real-life examples. Last week, I read about an AI math tool that was glitching because it needed specific prompts to work properly. Imagine if this tool was present when I was in high school; I am pretty sure I would have failed the year. Not everyone excels at math, and a tool that grades without explanation and glitches could create a generation that barely knows how to count.
An AI essay grader could be used to aid teachers, but teachers should not rely entirely on it. Human interaction, explanations, and examples in education are needed. At the end of the day, it’s not all about grades; it’s about applying the ideas learned.
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